Opposition to neoliberal mining companies is on the rise

In January, over 500 activists from Mexico & Central America convened in the state of Oaxaca, MX to coordinate political resistance to the increasing neoliberal predations of international mining companies in their countries which are expropriating & dislocating entire communities of indigenous peoples & ravaging the environment. The conference was called Si la vida! No la minera! (Yes to life! No to mining!) Also present were activists from the Canadian indigenous Idle No More movement. John Cutfeet from the Ki First Nation in Canada told the participants, “When injustice becomes a law, resistance becomes a duty.”

The activists here pay a moving tribute to those dislocated & forced to migrate north to the US to find work who died in the brutal crossing. The tribute honored “each & every person who is at this moment crossing the border between Mexico & the US. Last year, more than 400 people died at the border. Mexicans, El Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans & other people from Mesoamerica.… They were brothers & sisters that were displaced from their lands because of war & now because of the mines. I ask of everyone to hold in our memory these brothers & sisters who have lost their lives in the desert, searching for a better life. And so our struggles, our hearts, our spirits & our minds are focused on fighting to defend our land.”    (Photo by Jen Wilton)